What are you thankful for...?

This past Saturday, I had the privelege to be a bystander and watch and listen to a group of men that really made me appreciate our men's ministry. First of all, the morning started with a few songs led by a guy who wanted us to start the day out with praise and worship a while ago. The last song that he played (we sang) was from Jesus Culture called One Thing Remains. It was powerful to listen to words that are not about us, but about who made us and who loves us more than we ever could. The two facilitators that morning decided that the group was just too big for everyone to share, so they split the group up and we discussed our lives and the Bible verses we read and what each meant to us. It was a great morning and a powerful morning.Holiday weeks can be a bit taxing with everything going on and since my mother died back in March, I, for the life of me, cannot catch up with all the paperwork and responsibility that comes with responsibility of being the executor and my father living in assisted living. That being said, I have been really thankful for my family. First of all, for my wife, Kate, who loves me no matter what I do - you see we married each other for better or for worse - no "ifs" "ands" or "buts"...When we said "We do" we meant it. I am thankful for that.

I am thankful for our three wonderful children that God has blessed us with.  I love the way that God has made each of them and I appreciate how much they show me how much God must love me!

I am thankful for my friends that I pray for. When I first got into ministry I prayed for spiritual friends like I have today, I am thankful for that.

Today, even in my own personal trials and tribulations, I am thankful!

What about you?  What are you thankful for?

Dante

Radical Mentoring

Twitter.com can sometimes bring to light ideas that have be stuck in neutral (in my head) for a very long time, that is, I know what the right thing is to do, but I sometimes find the business of life can distract me from doing what I know should be done...I am a leader in my church's Men's Ministry called Men of Faith.  I recently sent a letter (via email) to each of our Facilitators for men's group sharing some thought and ideas about taking men's ministry to the next level.  Let's just call it a 201 level were we will embark on an initial 6 month commitment with 4 to 6 men per group to go deeper, dig deeper and study scripture together.

Then I get this tweet on Radical Mentoring:

Radical Mentoring from Radical Mentoring on Vimeo.

The article along with it stated the following:

Ever been mentored? Ever mentored? Female or Male … if not, you are missing out. You are missing out on someone who has some years on you … challenging you, serving you, listening to you, guiding you, offering you examples of what they did and wished they hadn’t.

How would you classify your mentoring experience? Reactive or Proactive?

Back in 2007 … I (Bryan) went through a year-long structured mentoring group led by Regi Campbell (the guy speaking in the video above). It was like getting a baby MBA. Regi, as a successful business guy proactively led 8 guys around my age, with similar characteristics through a mentoring group that fascinated me. Regi was already busy … and yet … he had control of his time enough to investment in me and our group with his time. Not to mention that he is crazy in love with Jesus. I was in “RMG 7″ which stood for Radical Mentoring Group – 7th year.

Yip! 7 years … he had poured himself (as of 2007) … and now more groups have occurred. It felt like a Band of Brothers. We argued & push-backed. We discussed & learned from each other. We poked fun at each other. We read books together & netted them out with each other. We memorized scripture. We went on 2 private retreats. We prayed together. ALL under the watchful eye of Regi. Don’t miss this … he proactively guided eight 30-somethings with huge ambitions all in 1 year.

Some other mentoring considerations for you today:

1. Are you hungering for a mentor? Seek one. Ask God to provide you with one.
2. Be intentional about your mentoring effort … have a plan … regardless of whether you are the mentor or mentee.
   • How long?
   • What will you do?
   • What will you read?
   • How many of you will there be?
   • What are your end goal(s)?
3. I see too many young men who hunger to be mentored … BUT … their mentors are not structured. They think that asking tough questions can happen with someone once a quarter at a Waffle House is mentoring. That’s not mentoring … that’s having an arm’s length acquaintance. One-directional question asking is just that. As a mentor you have to expose all & be as transparent.
4. What is at stake? Imagine more & more young people deciding to intentionally, and proactively be led by a person, for a defined period of time … with an end-goal of being more in love with Jesus, a stronger leader, better husband, greater friend, engaged parent, contributor to society … the list is endless.

Regi, has now created a new entity called Radical Mentoring. If you are interested in creating this sort of environment in your church or business … reach out to his new group.

Thank you Regi … for your proactive investment in me.

Bryan

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So the question I have for you (Reader) are you being mentored?  Are you mentoring?  Whose life are you involved with?  Why not?  What is holding you back?

Dante

10 Years...

Last week my family went on our annual vacation, which normally would fall on this week, but because of teachers' conferences, we moved the vacation up one week.  We went to Florida (Clearwater Beach & Disney World) and we had a great time, even with the stresses of work lingering into my vacation, I was able to really enjoy my family.As we spent 2 days in Disney and a week on the beach and in the swimming pool, I asked my son what vacation meant for him.  His answer really put things in perspective for me:  "Daddy, that is simple, it is about being with your family and relaxing."  I think that for a seven year old to find that answer at such a young age speaks volumes to this generation.  In life's hustle and bustle and technology boom, we need to take a step back, breathe and inhale the sweet smell of family.

Every morning that I woke up I either went to eat out with the family (nieces and nephews and grandparents) and then I would read my Bible and pray and thank God for the blessing of family.  The blessing of comfort in family and the secure feeling to know that I have four people in my life that think the best of me no matter what else life throws at me.

Speaking of which, tomorrow (11/10/11) will mark my 10 year anniversary of marriage to my beautiful wife - Kate. I cannot even begin to tell you how faithful God has been to me even when I have turned my back on him in my twenties, he stayed faithful and true and knew the plans that he had for me, plans to prosper me.  He gave me my wife and kept his promise to me.  I have a Proverbial 31 wife.  She is an awesome wife and an incredible mother through the good and bad/hills and valleys of parenting.  Kate would be the first to tell you that her and I don't always "get it right" in relationship and in parenting, but we are committed to see it through and to be our families greatest fans.  When life gets difficult and sometimes downright unbearable it is family and a right relationship with God that can see you through any valley.  Kate has taught me a lot in life and she doesn't even realize how much she has.

She has taught me to love family even when it is difficult to do so.  We choose our friends and not our family, therefore, we have to love our family no matter what.  She has taught me that when I set my mind to things I can do almost anything that I set a goal to, even if I fail along the way.  She has taught me that I can talk through any argument and not to hold grudges through life.  When she says she forgives - she truly forgives.  When she knows that I am mad, she won't let it rest until we see it through.  She has taught me how much my mom loved me, because I see the love that she has for me, my son Trey and my daughters, Audrey and Belle.

One of the work stress into vacation days was when we went to see Winter (the dolphin with no tail) as the kids had to go see the female dolphin after going to see the movie in the theater.  With love and with family, we can overcome any obstacle - even losing a tail along the way.

As I will hopefully come home from work tomorrow, I cannot wait to see my beautiful bride and to tell her exactly what she means to me.  What my marriage to her means to me and to tell her how thankful that I am that God is in the center of our marriage and how much I appreciate her as a friend, a wife, a lover and mother!

When this life is done the legacy that I want to leave my children and hopefully some readers who truly love this blog is this:  Of faith, hope and love - love is the one thing that we need to put above all the rest.  For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son.  That whosoever believes in him shall be saved.

Thank you Kate!  I am proud to be your husband!

Love,

Dante

The 10 Commandments

The 10 Commandments via the Old TestamentExodus, Chapter 20. They were given directly by God to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai after He had delivered them from slavery in Egypt: 

"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God…

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

The 10 Commandments via the New TestamentAbout 1,400 years later, the 10 Commandments were summed up in the New Testament at Matthew 22, when Jesus was confronted by the religious "experts" of the day:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:36-40).

A reflective reading of Christ's teaching reveals that the first four commandments given to the children of Israel are contained in the statement: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." It continues that the last six commandments are enclosed in the statement: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Wordless Wednesday

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY:

Go Jonah!

This past Saturday in our Men's Bible Study, Jim, who was also the worship leader that morning shared insight to the book of Jonah, that is, we read the whole book of Jonah and opened up the rest of the morning for people's insights and what scripture spoke to them.Jonah, one of the minor prophets, I found to be a very interesting book.  I mean, we all know the story from children's stories, but this time the book spoke differently to us (to me).  Some themes that came out of the men's group were:  Obedience, running from God, Faithfulness, heart of God (His compassion and mercy), evidence of what happens when we repent and much more.

Jonah ran from God because he feared going to Nineveh. He was a Jew and they lived in Assyria.  There were cultural divides.  He didn't want be be rejected.  So he disobeyed God.  His actions almost cost the lives (the souls) of sailors on the ship that he was running from God.  He repented through the belly of a fish (3 days/3 nights - and he rose again - sound familiar).  He was thrown up on shore and then he was restored in his ministry to do God's will.  He preached the truth - Repent - people humbled themselves before God and repented wearing sack cloth.  The king even repented and changed the ways of his people.  They were saved and God had mercy on them.  Jonah got mad (they weren't destroyed and all of his fears went away) God provided for Jonah (shade) and then took it away (and Jonah got angry again).  Jonah was questioned by God, Jonah heard God cares for even the lost and sinful.  God's mercy is beyond any of understanding.  God is love.

The end of Jonah (Jonah 5:¹⁰ But the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. ¹¹ And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

When we find ourselves in God's will and seek His kingdom (and not ours), then great and wonderful things happen - People find God's mercy and salvation.  Cities, Nations and even animals are saved.  When we listen...

Thoughts?  Comments?

Dante

Biblical Hockey

This past Saturday we had our Annual Men's Breakfast at our church and had around two hundred guys that came to hear the Word of the Lord.  The theme was, "It is not about the perfection of your life, but the the direction of your life."  Our Pastor called out to us, "O Man of God." (1 Timothy 6:6-12).Some points that were made for our direction are that a man of God flees from greed and the love money (biblical stewardship tells us that it all belongs to God).  The man of God flees from evil, that is, from worldliness.   We should do this because if we do this, then we will develop godliness and find contentment in our relationship with Jesus Christ.  Why should we avoid and flee worldliness?  Because it simply will ruin and destroy us.  Evil takes us away from the faith and it will ruin us and bring much pain to our lives.

Pastor Mike asked us if we are fleeing worldliness and evil.  He said that this is what the man of God does.  Is this the direction of our life?  A real man of God is know by what he pursues.  Are we pursuing a relationship with God?  A man of God pursues righteousness (living by God's right standards), he pursues godliness (living a God-centered life) and the man of God pursues the faith (living on the teachings and promises of God).  The man of God pursues love (love our our neighbors) and steadfastness (through tough times) and he pursues gentleness (an even tempered life).  To put it simply, a man of God pursues a Christ-centered life.  Again, is this the direction of your life?

SUMMARY:  Once you place your faith in Christ, you are a man of God. The direction of your life is now to flee sin and pursue Christ.  You are called by God to "flee" and to "pursue" for the rest of your life.  Make sure you trust God's enablement.  You can only do this in His strength (John 15:5 & Philippians 4:13).  

So how do you learn to play biblical H O C K E Y ? ? ? ? ? ?

H = HUMBLE yourself before God (2 Chronicles 10-13)

O = you need OTHER men in your life (Moses in Exodus 17:12)

You need 3 buddy relationships (1. Someone who is pouring their life into you (Mentor); 2. Some who is your peer (equal) and 3. Some you are pouring your life into (mentee - a "Timothy").

C = CONFESSION in our lives (David in Psalm 51:4)

K = KICK IT INTO GEAR (Timothy 1:8 & 2:1)

E = EAT Scripture (EZEKIEL 3:1-3 and Revelation 10:8-10)

Y = Say YES to God (Isaiah 6:8).

A man of God is pure and confesses when he is not.  A man of God is a faithful steward of God's resources (giving God 10% of everything and being responsible with the rest of what he has given each of us - to some 5 talents to others 2 and to others 1).  Will God tell us at our judgement - well done thou good and faithful servant?

Where you are in your life, whether young, middle aged or old, it is never to late to finish well.  O Man of God, are you ready for the first day of the rest of your life to be given to God?  Will you allow the Lord to be the Lord over your entire life?  In the last minute of your life - can you look back for a moment and say that today (October 15, 2011) was the day that I made the right choice?

Dante

The Hole in our (my) Gospel

James 1:27

The Message (MSG)

^26-27Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

Job 29

When God Was Still by My Side

^1-6 Job now resumed his response: "Oh, how I long for the good old days,when God took such very good care of me. He always held a lamp before meand I walked through the dark by its light. Oh, how I miss those golden yearswhen God's friendship graced my home, When the Mighty One was still by my side and my children were all around me, When everything was going my way, and nothing seemed too difficult.  ^7-20 "When I walked downtownand sat with my friends in the public square, Young and old greeted me with respect;  I was honored by everyone in town. When I spoke, everyone listened; they hung on my every word.  People who knew me spoke well of me; my reputation went ahead of me.  I was known for helping people in trouble and standing up for those who were down on their luck.  The dying blessed me, and the bereaved were cheered by my visits.  All my dealings with people were good. I was known for being fair to everyone I met.  I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame, Father to the needy, and champion of abused aliens. I grabbed street thieves by the scruff of the neck and made them give back what they'd stolen.  I thought, 'I'll die peacefully in my own bed, grateful for a long and full life, A life deep-rooted and well-watered,a life limber and dew-fresh, My soul suffused with glory and my body robust until the day I die.'  ^21-25 "Men and women listened when I spoke,hung expectantly on my every word. After I spoke, they'd be quiet,taking it all in. They welcomed my counsel like spring rain, drinking it all in.When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it; their faces lit up, their troubles took wing! I was their leader, establishing the mood and setting the pace by which they lived.  Where I led, they followed."